Report: Hawks, Knicks, Spurs eyeing Lonnie Walker via trade in draft

Report: Hawks, Knicks, Spurs eyeing Lonnie Walker via trade in draft

Three teams are attempting to acquire 19-year-old Lonnie Walker in the early half of the first round in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The Atlanta Hawks have dangled their No. 19 and 30 picks to move up in the draft, league sources told The Athletic. The Los Angeles Clippers (picks 12 and 13) and Denver (pick 14) are among the targets for Atlanta, league sources say.

The Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs have all reportedly expressed interest in Walker.

The Los Angeles Clippers were recently linked in trade rumors with the Atlanta Hawks. Both teams have multiple picks in the first round and Jeremy Woo from Sports Illustrated wrote that the Hawks “have explored packaging draft picks” to land Walker. His colleague Jake Fischer added that Walker is a “heavily rumored target” for Atlanta.

If the Hawks offered the No. 19 overall pick and the No. 30 overall pick, they could potentially grab the No. 12 or No. 13 pick from the Clippers in order to select Walker. Kevin O’Connor wrote that the Hawks have “deeper interest” in him than the Clippers do.

Earlier this month, it was clear that Lonnie Walker had support within the Knicks’ front office. That remains the case today, a few days from the draft, per sources. Opposing executives believe Walker & Kevin Knox are among those in the conversation at 9: https://t.co/Ly8VMAAkU7

Walker is considered “unlikely to get past San Antonio” if he is still available when they are on the clock at No. 18 overall. HoopsHype has learned that the Spurs have at least explored a possible trade with the Charlotte Hornets to select him at No. 11 overall, potentially moving them ahead in the draft of the aforementioned teams that spoke with the Clippers.

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie says “there are a few teams that want to jump San Antonio” to land Walker so it would make sense for the Spurs to leap in front of them. Their shooting coach Chip Engelland could potentially do wonders to help the young talent develop.

Bryan Kalbrosky

Bryan Kalbrosky is an NBA writer for HoopsHype and the managing editor for USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NBA Wire sites. He was previously the editor of The Rams Wire with USA TODAY SMG as well. Bryan has published with FOX Sports, Noisey, Bleacher Report, The Big Lead, LA Weekly, Huffington Post and various other publications.